By Jeph Duarte | Pounding The Rock (PtR), 2025-07-20 19:00:00
由生成式人工智能翻译,译文内容可能不准确或不完整,以原文为准。
时光飞逝
十二年前的今天,马刺队在NBA总决赛的抢七大战中惜败于迈阿密热火队。当时,我站在纽约布鲁克林(Brooklyn, NY)那间小小的公寓里,对怀有八个月身孕的妻子说:“我们要搬到圣安东尼奥,明年马刺队会重返NBA总决赛并击败迈阿密热火队。届时,我就可以告诉我们的孩子,一支以尊严和文化为核心的球队,绝不会被一支靠拼凑和浮夸组建起来的球队永远击垮。”
好吧,好吧,其实我们早就知道要搬去圣安东尼奥了,我并没有在半夜突然决定要搬家。但即便如此,当马刺队 真的 重返总决赛,并且 真的 击败了热火队时,而且还是在父亲节那天!拜托,这简直是神助,远超我能理解的范畴。
那场胜利重新点燃了我童年时期对马刺队的热情。而我重拾的这份热情,又点燃了我女儿的兴趣。现在,马刺队的情结成为了我们共同的纽带。
我们第一次共同外出,是观看2014年NBA总决赛的第三场比赛。当时她还不到一岁,我们就在AT&T中心通过巨型显示屏观看。球馆内气氛热烈,声浪震耳欲聋。我本以为噪音会让她感到不适,但她似乎察觉到正在发生一件重要的事情。我的兴奋感也让她确信,这份喧嚣是件好事。
此后不久,她成了我的壁画伙伴。
我每听说有我们没看过的壁画,就会带着她去探访、拍照,然后发布出来。
这里是早期的一张。
几年前,我们还去看了贝基·哈蒙(Becky Hammon)的壁画。
有一天,她在放学回家的路上看到了这幅壁画,她让妻子停车记下地址,以便我们回头去拍照。她开始有了主人翁意识。薪火相传了。
除了壁画,我们还尽可能多地去现场看比赛。在马刺队50周年纪念赛季期间,她会挑选那些能拿到摇头公仔的比赛去观看。她的卧室简直就是一座迷你马刺队“圣殿”。
我们2023年还去了阿拉莫穹顶球馆(Alamodome)观看比赛。我告诉她,我们将会是世界纪录的一部分。我想,这让她感触很深。
我们非常喜欢“场边体验”。看着球员们热身,观察他们日常训练的动态,以及与训练师和教练的互动,都让我们感觉离比赛更近了。
两年前,当选秀乐透抽签揭晓,马刺队获得了2023年选秀状元签时,你会以为是她中了彩票。我真的觉得她可能比我还要兴奋,声音也绝对更大!当时,我们就在AT&T中心,亲耳听到维克托·文班亚马(Victor Wembanyama)的名字被念出,庆祝活动也随之开始。
她是我形影不离的伙伴,也证明了如果你正确地引导孩子,他们终将成为真正的马刺球迷。
几年前,当她刚刚开始理解比赛时,这一切就变得清晰起来。2018-2019赛季的最后一场比赛后,我写了这篇文章。这么多年过去了,它仍然是我的最爱之一。
今天是她的日子,她值得被特别提及。因为尽管我对马刺队有着近乎疯狂的热爱,但她总能让我保持清醒和“正常”。没有什么比这更好的了。
亲爱的伊丽莎白,生日快乐。你永远是爸爸的骄傲。
点击查看原文:Open Thread: The art of raising a Spurs fan
Open Thread: The art of raising a Spurs fan
My how time flies
Twelve years and one month ago today, the Spurs fell to the Miami Heat in Game 7 of the NBA Finals. I stood up in my tiny Brooklyn, NY apartment and told my wife — eight months pregnant at the time, “We are moving to San Antonio, and next year the Spurs will return to the NBA Finals and beat the Miami Heat. I will be able to tell our child that a team defined by dignity and culture can never been shut down for good by a team cobbled together artificially and through bravado.”
Okay, okay, so we already knew we were moving to San Antonio, I didn’t just uproot us in the middle of the night. But still. When the Spurs did return to the Finals. and then they did beat the Heat. And on Father’s Day! C’mon, that’s divine intervention way about my pay grade.
It restored my childhood passion for the Spurs. And my reclaimed passion sparked my daughter’s interest. Now Spurs fandom is something we share.
One of our first outings was watching Game 3 of the 2014 NBA Finals at the AT&T Center on the Jumbotron when she was still just under a year old. The arena was rocking and loud. I thought the noise might bother her, but she seemed to sense there was something important was going on. My excitement assured her the chaos was a good thing.
Shortly thereafter, she became my mural buddy.
I’d hear of a mural we hadn’t seen and we’d make a trip to investigate, take some photos, and post.
HERE is an early one.
We saw the Becky Hammon mural a few years ago.
One day on her ride home from school, she saw this mural and made my wife stop and get the address so we could go back to take photos. She was taking ownership. The baton had been passed.
In addition to the murals, we have attend as many games as we can. During the 50th anniversary, she chose the games that yielded bobbleheads. Her bedroom is a mini-Spurs shrine.
We went to the Alamodome game in 2023. I told her we’d be part of a world record. I think that resonated with her.
We love the Court side Experience. Watching the players warm up, seeing the dynamic of their routine, and the interaction with trainers and coaches makes us feel like we are that much closer to the game.
And two years ago when the lottery ball dropped and the Spurs got the number one pick in the 2023 draft, you’d have thought she won the lottery. I honestly thought she might be more excited that I was. Definitely louder! We were there at the AT&T Center when they called Victor Wembanyama’s name and the celebration began.
She’s my running buddy, and proof that if you raise them right, they will become proper Spurs fans.
It became clear a few years back, when she was just starting to understand the game. I wrote this piece after we attended the last game of the 2018-2019 season. Still one of my favorites after all these years.
Today is her day, and she gets a shout out. Because for all my crazy Spurs fandom, she keeps me grounded and feeling normal. Nothing beats that.
Happy birthday, my dearest Elizabeth. You always make daddy proud.
By Jeph Duarte, via Pounding The Rock